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Cane’s eyes narrowed when Alex opened the door. She was wearing his jersey and nothing else. Her hair was wet like she had just got out of the shower. “I wasn’t expecting round two until after dinner, but I’m always game.” Cane pulled her against his chest and kissed her hard.
After a few minutes, Alex pulled back. “What are you doing here?”
“I told you we have dinner plans.”
Alex lifted the celery stalk she was eating. “I can’t. I told you that. We had an entire conversation about it less than two hours ago. You’ve taken one too many blows to the head, Corn Fed if you can’t remember that.”
“I remember you making some bullshit excuse but we’re still going to dinner.”
A furrow formed between her brows. She was sexy when she was annoyed. Lucky for him, he annoyed her a lot. “I can’t go to dinner at Massraf’s. I have no will power when it comes to that place. I was serious when I said I needed to diet. I am going to be on camera now. Time to shake this writer’s ass.” As if to demonstrate she lifted the hem of the jersey.
“Dang, woman. Looks good to me.” Cane grabbed a cheek and squeezed. “Feels even better. Want me to show you how much I like it?”
Alex pulled the shirt down. “Camera ready,” she repeated, waving the stalk of celery. “I’m serious.”
“And I’m serious that I love that ass. Don’t get rid of it. We’re friends. I am really fond of that ass. I will miss it, like go into serious mourning if it leaves and then we won’t make the playoffs. Texans will lose all because of you. Don’t do that to the fans, sweetheart.”
Alex laughed. “I’m glad you have a special bond with my backside but the rest of America doesn’t share your affection.”
“Only because they haven’t seen it. Here, let me show them.” Cane pulled out his phone. “Show me that ass, sweetheart.”
“No! You’re ridiculous.”
“I really am but now I want a picture of your ass. Don’t worry, I’m not going to show anyone. This one is all for me. Want me to send you the picture of what I do when I look at it?”
Alex flushed. “You already sent me one,” she reminded him.
“There is a fresh one every day. You provide me with a lot of material to work with. Come on, show me your ass. It’s only fair. I did a strip tease for you.”
Alex laughed and shook her head. “One picture. And if I find it on any big bottomed fetish sites, I will ghost you for good.”
Cane laughed. “As if I would do that. This ass belongs on my-girlfriend-has-a-perfect-ass fetish site.” He clicked the camera icon and admired the photos. “Will be using these for years when I am playing in other cities and I can’t see my woman.”
Alex rolled her eyes and bit into her celery.
“Woman stop eating the celery, I am taking you to dinner. I don’t take you out enough. Seriously, put the stalk down. You’re going to ruin your appetite.”
Alex stared at him dubiously. “I really won’t.”
Unease settled in him. She really thought she needed to lose weight. “Don’t diet to fit some mold, Alex. You’re beautiful but that’s not why you got this job. You got this job because you are a good journalist.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “This is part of my job. You should understand that. You lift heavy things for like four hours a day because it is part of your job.”
Cane shook his head. Alex tried to look away but he forced her head back round to face him. “I lift weights to perform well in my job. The size of your ass will not affect your performance. You’re a good journalist. And you’re sexy. But those two things have nothing to do with each other.” Did she really not get that?
“Look, I don’t want to go to dinner.” Alex pulled away and he didn’t try to stop her. That’s what she did when she was upset, she retreated into herself. He could argue the point until he was hoarse and she wouldn’t hear a single word because she had already shut the conversation down.
Cane pulled her back. “Alex, I will support you in this because I will support you on everything. But I don’t agree. Your body is perfect. No, don’t look away. I need you to hear that.”
Alex was quiet for a long moment. She stared down at the hands that held her against him. She bit her lip as she considered what he said. “What if I wasn’t perfect? What if I gained weight? Lots of weight...say sixty pounds.”
Cane had to smile. It was an oddly specific number. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“You will probably gain that much when you’re pregnant and it won’t put me off. Is that what you’re hoping for? To get a break from me? Cause that ain’t going to happen. Even if we have to widen the doors and reinforce the furniture, I will still want you. I love your body, because it is your body.”
Alex stared up at him with dark eyes, clearly unconvinced, but she didn’t say anything. She wouldn’t. She hated to argue. She ran from conflict. Cane let go of her and lifted up his shirt. He pointed at the grooved plane of his abs. “I have no doubt this twelve pack will go when I retire. I might even lose my hair. Will you still want me?”
“Of course. I mean, I will miss the twelve pack but I will have plenty of pictures of it by then to get me by. And there is always your Twitter feed.”
“So, you will still be into me, but I am shallower than that. As soon as your body changes, I’m out? Is that it?”
Alex stared him straight in the eye. “Yes.”
She didn’t pull away this time, no retreating from conflict. The honesty of her answer surprised him. When did he ever give her the impression that what they had was dependent upon the way she looked? He hadn’t even found her beautiful when they first got together, because he was an idiot. But now she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. He couldn’t tell her that though, it would hardly help his case.
“Why?” he asked. “Why do you expect me to be shallow?”
Alex blinked like she wasn’t expecting the question. “Because men are visual people.”
Cane ran a hand through his cropped hair. “I’m going to ignore that blatant sexism, Alex. I expect more from you.”
Alex bit her lip again, hard enough to make it bleed, the skin drained of color where the incisors pressed. Eventually she spoke. “That’s the point, Cane. I don’t expect more from you. We’re doing this now because it suits you. But what about when it doesn’t?”
“Why would I stop wanting you?” he asked incredulously. Annoyance grew within him. Why did she still think this was some flash in the pan thing? How had he ever given her the impression that he was not all in?
She shook her head. “Because the saying about history repeating itself is often true.”
She looked so sad and defeated. He was torn between wanting to gather her in his arms and comfort her, or shaking her to knock some sense into her. Under his annoyance, disappointment spread. What they had didn’t mean a whole hell of a lot if she didn’t trust him.
“What history? Is it all men you think so poorly of or just me?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer but he asked anyway. He needed to know.
Alex was quiet for too long. He had pushed her too far and she had retreated. Eventually she said, “You for sure. I don’t know about other men yet. I hope I can find someone I trust. I want to.”
Her words were like a blow to the chest. Unbelievable. After everything, she didn’t trust him. What was he supposed to do? Agitation clawed at him. “You don’t trust me? I am the one pushing for more.” Could she hear herself? She was the one shutting them down at every pass. She was the one who refused to acknowledge they were in a relationship. She was the one who kept dating other people after they started dating. And yet, he was the one who shouldn’t be trusted. Cane rubbed at his temples. He had a headache and he needed to eat dinner. Unlike Alex, he was still a fan of three-square meals a day. “I am too hungry for this conversation. What do you have?”
Cane didn’t wait for Alex to answer. He was too annoyed with her on an empty stomach. “You have no food in your kitchen.” Cane shut the refrigerator and opened her cupboards.
“I have eggs and celery. Oh, and coffee,” Alex offered. “I need to go shopping.” Her excuse was pathetic. She was lying and they both knew it.
Cane was starting to get pissed. Was she not eating now to lose weight? He needed to shut that down hard. “I am ordering pizza. I need to eat if I am going to win this argument.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Papa John’s. He wasn’t a huge fan of pizza but he had an endorsement deal with them. The commercial he did for them paid for his house, so it only seemed right he order from them. Plus, he knew for a fact Alex was a fan of pizza. He ordered a large combination pizza to be delivered.
“Now, where were we?” Cane sat beside Alex on her couch. She did not look up when he sat down, she just stared at her hands.
“I had a date tonight.” Her voice was so soft he barely heard her.
The anger he felt before took hold and grew arms and legs. “What?” he demanded. She didn’t trust him yet she’d had a date. Unfuckingbelievable. Still, she would not look at him. Frustration mounted in him. He could not do this one sided.
“I canceled. On the way to the gym, I had this ‘what are you doing moment’. I had to cancel. Dating some other guy wouldn’t be fair to him, or me, or you. I don’t want to date anyone else. I don’t want to go to dinner with anyone else or have sex with anyone else or go skinny dipping with anyone else.” Finally, she turned to him. She looked so sad. Why? Why was she sad? He wanted to kiss her until she smiled again. But he couldn’t, not now, not until he knew what was wrong and how he could fix it. “But I don’t want to date you, either. I am trying to keep this causal but one day I will wake up and realize I am in love with you and then when you back away I will be devastated. I can’t do that. Not again.” Alex looked away again. She didn’t want to tell him this. Any of it. He could tell. She didn’t do emotions.
“Again?”
Alex looked back at him. Her eyes narrowed in question.
“You said again.” Cane reached for her hand. “Who broke your heart? Who?” He realized after he asked that he didn’t want to know. They both had a past but that didn’t matter. Anything that happened before they met, was just that, in the past. “Whoever he was, he was an asshole. You’re better off without him.”
Alex laughed but there was no merriment, it was a bitter sound. She shook her head. “You really have no idea, do you? You don’t get it.”
She tried to pull her hands away again but Cane would not let her. “I get it. I get that the only thing that can stop us is you. I’m in. Both feet, sweetheart. Let’s do it. You and me, let’s do this. No more joking, no more pulling back. All in.” Alex swallowed. She opened her mouth to speak and he knew it would be another excuse. He had heard enough. It was time to get real and stop playing games. “Look, this is new to me. You know that. I put my cards on the table right from the start. I have never had a serious relationship until you. And some asshole has hurt you so we’re both rookies. But if anyone can make it work it is us. Don’t let fear stop you. Please don’t be a coward about this.”
Her jaw set in determination like he hoped it would. This was her weakness, her need to prove herself, and he was using it against her. And he didn’t even feel a little bit bad about it. There were very few things he wouldn’t do to win her. “Yeah, you were hurt,” he continued. “You were sacked hard. But you get back up and shake it off. Trust me, getting taken down is part of my job.”
She shook her head but there was a slight smile pulling up her full lips. “It really shouldn’t be part of your job. If your blindside was covered—”
Cane grabbed her and pulled her in against him. “Right there is why I will never get tired of you. You are smart and beautiful and you know as much about football as any player in the league. I must remember to thank your dad for that the next time I take him to lunch.”
Alex pulled back. “No. No more lunch dates with my dad.”
“He’s my girlfriend’s dad, so lunch is going to happen. And I will send him tickets and I will invite him to charity golf tournaments. Deal with it.”
Alex made an exasperated sound. “Not girlfriend. I really don’t like the sound of that.” She paused for a second to consider. “We’re free agents. Okay, just trying for a spot on the team. We will see how it goes.”
Cane had to force himself not to smile. What Alex was proposing was every bit the relationship he wanted but her semantics were different. She used a football analogy because that was her comfort zone. Lucky for him, he too was fluent in football. “I can already tell you that you have a spot on my team.” He kissed her then pulled back to whisper against her lips. “And remember free agents can only play without a contract in the pre-season then they need to sign.” He was pushing her, but she needed to be pushed.
“Let’s see if we’re good enough to make the team before we start contract negotiations.” She leaned in and kissed him, her mouth opening for him. Suddenly she pulled back, her eyes wide.
“Nobody can know about this. I’m serious. It is totally unprofessional. I am a reporter. I can’t be...” Alex struggled to find the right word.
“Girlfriend. You’re my girlfriend. Nobody can know you’re my girlfriend,” he offered for her.
“Yes. That. No one can know that. I mean, my dad knows because you had to go and see him,” she said clearly chagrined. “But no one else. I haven’t even told my best friend, Vanessa. This is top secret. Okay?”
Cane smiled. “Naughty. I love it. You’re getting hotter by the minute. How could I ever get tired of you? It’s our little secret. I mean we will tell our kids, right, so they know they’re not bastards.”
Alex shook her head. “If you start talking about your eleven-pound babies that you’re going to have with your brood mare wife, I will show you the door, Corn Fed. We are trialing this...thing.”
“This thing,” he repeated. “We should probably consummate this thing. Let’s make it official.”
“You’re ridiculous. Sex on my couch won’t make it any more official.” She rolled her eyes.
“No, but it is fun.”
Alex pushed him off her. “Your pizza will be here any minute.”
Cane kissed her neck as his hand reached under the jersey. “I can be quick.”
The doorbell rang. With a groan Cane stood up. He opened the door. The pizza delivery boy let out a squawking sound like he was in pain then dropped the pizza box. The kid, who looked like he was barely old enough to drive didn’t move. He was frozen in place, transfixed.
“You alright?” Cane bent down to pick up the box. He handed the kid fifty dollars. “Keep the change.”
The kid opened his mouth to speak a few times before anything came out. “You’re...you’re...you’re Cane Clayburn.”
Cane smiled. “Yeah, I am. Pleasure to meet you, Josh.” He read the kid’s name tag. Cane reached his hand out to shake. He didn’t ask the kid if he was a Texans fan because it seemed obvious. Cowboys’ fans reacted by telling him every wrong play he had ever called. He far preferred the reaction of Texan fans.
“Nobody is going to believe it. You eat Papa John’s. We were actually talking about this tonight at work. I wonder if Cane Clayburn really eats Papa Johns.”
“I hope you put money on it. Cause I do.”
“Nah, I wish I had now. Seriously no one is going to believe it. You’re Cane Clayburn. How cool is that.”
Alex came up behind him and took the box. “It’s pretty cool,” she said. There was glee in her voice. She sat the box down on the coffee table. “Do you have a phone? I will take your picture together,” Alex offered.
Josh nodded like a bobble-head doll on the dashboard of a car. Alex took the phone and snapped several pictures before she handed the phone back.
“This is so cool,” Josh repeated over and over.
“Totally cool,” Alex agreed. “Have a good night.” Alex smiled as she shut the door. “Your legion of fans.”
“You’re the only fan I care about.”
Alex stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “You have your pizza. I am going to have some quality time with the Salvatore brothers.”
“I know who they are now, by the way. I Googled it. Did not peg you as a vampire fan.”
“You googled The Vampire Diaries?”
“Of course. I had to know who this Salvatore punk was that was making my girl hot.”
Alex laughed. “Eat your pizza, Corn Fed.”